Women & Therapy, 37:72–82, 2014

Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

ISSN: 0270-3149 print/1541-0315 online
DOI: 10.1080/02703149.2014.850336

Forensic Psychology: Preparing Female

Clinicians for Challenging Offenders

ANNETTE L. ERMSHAR
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Alliant International University, California School of Forensic Studies,

Alhambra, California

ADRIENNE M. MEIER
Fuller Theological Seminary, Department of Clinical Psychology,
Pasadena, California

Preparing female clinicians for the emotional and psychological

demands of forensic work with violent and/or sexual offenders is
imperative. Stereotypical gender scripts, such as the expectation
that females must empathize with victims, result in stigmatization
of female clinicians. Biases that women are less capable of han-
dling such offenders contribute to increased difficulties within the
field. Preparing female trainees for counter transferential issues,
de-feminization, and the potential for vicarious traumatization
will serve to help female clinicians continue to thrive in the field of
forensic evaluation and treatment; thereby benefitting treatment
and the field in general.

KEYWORDS clinical training, female clinicians, forensic

psychology, offenders, preventing burn out

Forensic psychology is defined as the intersection of psychology and the

law. Forensic psychologists are asked to address legal rather than clinical
questions—such as whether a defendant is competent to stand trial or
assessing their state of mind at the time of the offense (insanity). Forensic
psychologists are also asked to provide sentencing and court mandated
treatment recommendations, to introduce mitigating factors that may cause
the judge or jury to look differently at a crime, to evaluate the credibility of

Address correspondence to Annette L. Ermshar, Ph.D., MSCP, ABPP, Alliant International

University, California School of Forensic Studies, 1000 S. Fremont Ave #5, Alhambra, CA 91803.
E-mail: aermshar@alliant.edu

72
 Forensic Psychology 73

a witness, or to assess the risk that a convicted person may commit a similar
crime in the future (recidivism).
Media and television dramas have more recently focused on issues
involving criminal behaviors, which have increased awareness of and inter-
est in the field of forensic psychology. Despite this increase in awareness,
women are still a minority in the field and face implicit biases. Since the
forensic population presents unique risks (e.g. aggression, violence, or sexu-
ally deviant behaviors), there is an assumption that men are better equipped
to manage and treat this population. Although the number of women in the
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field is growing, little attention has been given to how to adequately train
and supervise females in this context. Though the field of forensic psychol-
ogy is broad, the scope of the current article will be limited to a discussion
of violent or sexual offenders. Gender roles significantly impact how clients,
supervisors, and society perceive female clinicians working with violent or
sexual offenders. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to raise awareness
of and prepare females for the feelings, experiences, and difficulties involved
in working with these challenging populations.

STIGMATIZATION

Gender stereotypes and biases impact how females are perceived in the field
of forensic psychology. According to stereotypical gender scripts, females are
expected to empathize with victims, who are often children or women.
Female clinicians involved with the defense counsel representing an indi-
vidual charged with a violent sexual offense (not yet convicted), face stigma-
tization from the community who may believe they are “supporting” the
alleged sexual offense (Lea, Auburn, & Kibblewhite, 1999). When those cases
involve child molestation, clinicians who work with or represent the alleged
perpetrator are perceived as “heartless” or unsympathetic to children who
have been abused. Similarly, clinicians who advocate for treatment or empha-
size the capacity for sex offenders to change are perceived as endorsing
sexual offending behaviors (Lea et al., 1999). This societal response can be
difficult for women to manage, as the clinician’s intent is to uphold the
defendant’s constitutional rights and present objective psychological data
about the defendant. Reactions to this stigmatization should be discussed in
supervision in order to normalize a supervisee’s feelings of anger, confusion,
and/or shame that may emerge from their work with these offenders.
Even in promotions and employment within the field of forensic psy-
chology, gender discrimination often exists. Women may be passed up for a
position working with dangerous offenders under the pretense that it is for
their physical and psychological safety. Gender stereotypes suggest that
women are less capable or more fragile than men. Reacting against this ste-
reotype of implied fragility, female clinicians often avoid seeking help and
 74 A. L. Ermshar and A. M. Meier

support in an attempt to prove that they are indeed competent in this difficult
field of work. This is evident in female supervisee’s lack of willingness to ask
for advice from their supervisors in difficult clinical situations, including ones
where clients have acted inappropriately with them—sexually or otherwise
(Hartl et al., 2007). Fear of confirming stereotypes creates situations in which
women are more susceptible to burn out and vicarious traumatization.
Female discrimination is less evident in other arenas of forensic psychol-
ogy, such as in family courts. Women are seen as quite capable, and even
favored to their male counterparts in this court setting (Arrigo & Shipley,
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2004). This favorable bias is likely due to societal beliefs that victims require
a nurturing, caring approach, whereas perpetrators only deserve to be pun-
ished. However, the involvement of female clinicians can be very beneficial
to the treatment of offenders. Interacting with a woman provides the oppor-
tunity to challenge the offender’s distorted views of women (i.e., that they are
powerless or rejecting). Thus, treatment that includes both male and female
clinicians can maximize the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions.

BOUNDARIES

Clinical supervision ensures that counter transference and other boundary

issues can be addressed properly, which is especially important for women,
who may be perceived as more easily intimidated or manipulated (Mothersole,
2000). The supervisor should model setting boundaries so the trainees can
observe an appropriate way to maneuver the new environment, which can
be intimidating and overwhelming at times. One component of setting
boundaries has to do with the amount of personal information shared with
offenders. Acceptable boundaries range among clinicians from willingly
sharing general details of their life (i.e., personal interests) to sharing abso-
lutely nothing about themselves. Considering the prevalence of manipulative
tendencies and personality disorders (e.g., Antisocial or Borderline Personality
Disorders) among offenders, the supervisor should prepare trainees for cli-
ents’ attempts to deliberately break boundaries. Trainees should be encour-
aged to decide where they want to set their own boundaries. Furthermore,
supervisors are encouraged to advise trainees to seek resources in order to
process triggers and discuss their comfort level of continued work with vio-
lent or sexual offenders.

DE-FEMINIZATION

In a forensic setting, being a woman and a forensic psychologist may not feel
fully congruent, as embodying one role may discount the other. Female clini-
cians need to be vigilant about their appearance and be aware of how it may
 Forensic Psychology 75

impact the client. This is due to the objectification of women and negative
connotations associated with women among offenders, as well as the preva-
lence of paraphilias among offenders that can be easily triggered by visual
stimulus. Female clinicians report having to ‘de-feminize’ themselves in order
to avoid potential advances or inappropriate behaviors from offenders and
to ensure that the focus remain on the clinical material. Thought is given to
the type of shoes worn (i.e., no heels or open toed shoes), perfume, jewelry,
or any clothing that might remind the offender that the clinician herself is a
sexual being (i.e., cleavage, displaying legs or toes, etc.). Since female cloth-
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ing is often more form fitting, it is common practice to purposely wear loose
clothing to de-accentuate femininetraits (Dean & Barrett, 2011), as well as to
avoid attracting attention or focus on a particular body part. Because male
attire is traditionally looser fitting and covers more of the body, this issue is
typically more unique to women. This form of de-feminization is important
to explore in the supervisory relationship, as it may feel like the trainee’s
identity as a woman is compromised in order to competently do her work.
When clients do exhibit inappropriate behaviors, women are more
likely to make attributions about themselves in order to explain such inap-
propriate behaviors (Hartl et al., 2007). If a client winks or makes a sugges-
tive gesture towards them, female clinicians often wonder, “What was I doing
to invite such a gesture?” “Did I lead them on?” or “Did I not uphold my
personal boundaries?” These difficult questions should be addressed and
discussed in supervision, yet too often are avoided within supervision (Hartl
et  al., 2007). The potential pitfall of not disclosing or processing these
breaches in boundaries to one’s supervisor or colleague results in the inter-
nalization of these thoughts as truth—“I must have done something to elicit
my client’s inappropriate behavior.” Further, the female clinician may become
hypervigilant about her contact with her clients, constantly self-questioning
how her behaviors and mannerisms may be interpreted. Although some level
of vigilance or awareness is critical in this type of clinical work, excessive
vigilance inevitably impacts the quality of treatment.
Discussing inappropriate client behaviors has been established as a
crucial aspect of supervision (Heru, Strong, Price, & Recupero 2004).
However, less than two-thirds of clinicians will actually raise these issues
with their supervisor, which are often sexual in nature (Morgan & Porter,
1999). Females in general have more rigid boundaries regarding self-disclo-
sure within supervision (Heru et al., 2004). Supervisees are hesitant to raise
certain issues with their supervisors for fear that they will be deemed ‘irrel-
evant’ or ‘unimportant’ (Hartl et al., 2007). Ladany, Hill, Corbett, and Nutt
(1996) suggest that trainees fear that they may be unsupported, ‘laughed
off’, or that they will jeopardize their training evaluation and/or future
career if they bring up these concerns. Furthermore, trainees may worry
that their supervisor will frame the inappropriate behaviors as a lack of
skill/competence or poor personal boundaries, rather than exploring the
 76 A. L. Ermshar and A. M. Meier

emotional impact of clients’ inappropriate behaviors (Hartl et  al., 2007).

Ultimately, females may worry that a disclosure of inappropriate behaviors
directed toward them may result in restricted access to such offenders in
the future, as some may mistake the client’s sexual inappropriateness as
evidence that the trainee cannot handle working with clients in this
population.

EXPOSURE TO DEVIANT SEXUAL CONTENT

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Preparing new clinicians for work with sex offenders is imperative due to the
psychological effects and emotional responses such sexualized environ-
ments elicit. Clinicians working with sex offenders are expected to delve into
the depths of the client’s sexual world in order to better understand and treat
deviant sexual behaviors. In this role, the clinician is exposed to vivid images
of the sexual offenses and/or sexually deviant fantasies and behaviors, which
can impact the clinicians’ own psychological and sexual functioning. For
example, clinicians have reported being fascinated by and attracted to the
offenders’ deviant sexual behaviors (Ellerby, Gutkin, Smith, & Atkinson, 1993;
Erooga, 1994). Of note, however, is that little research has explored differ-
ences between female and male clinicians in this regard. Regardless of gender,
this fascination often results in voyeuristic tendencies to uncover more details
than necessary for an evaluation or treatment, due to the thrill derived from
hearing the sexual account (Mothersole, 2000). In these cases, a supervisor
may explore with the supervisee the clinical merit of eliciting such detailed
accounts. Once there is an understanding of why, the supervisor can assist
the trainee in developing and utilizing necessary therapeutic tools that are
beneficial for treatment goals.
In addition to being fascinated by deviant sexual behavior, research has
shown that clinicians can become sexually aroused by the content of the
sexual offense (Bengis, 1997; Ellerby, 1997; Gerber, 1995; Gil & Johnson,
1993; Hackett, 2002; Ryan & Lane, 2007). Sixteen percent of female clinicians
admitted to being sexually aroused by the offenders’ retelling of their deviant
sexual behaviors (Ellerby et al., 1993). Furthermore, clinicians in general have
reported experiencing sadistic sexual fantasies (Gerber, 1995) as well as
impulses to act out in deviant, sexual ways (Bengis, 1997). This interest and
arousal results in significant counter transference issues for clinicians, as they
may experience a range of emotions, such as “confusion, anxiety, helplessness,
guilt, rage, protectiveness and even sadism” (Chassman, Kottler, & Madison,
2010). Processing emotional and sexual responses with supervisees is imper-
ative to prevent distress and internalization of blame. Certainly un-examined
counter transference issues, such as unwelcome sexual arousal by deviant
behaviors, will likely negatively impact a clinician’s work (i.e., avoiding sexual
material required for a thorough evaluation or treatment session).
 Forensic Psychology 77

Though some clinicians become fascinated by deviant sexual behaviors,

others may be repulsed or horrified by offenders’ behaviors. Offenders have
been charged with or committed illegal acts, including murder, rape, or child
molestation, and it is a natural human response to experience some fear and/
or disgust in their presence, especially in a one-to-one therapeutic relation-
ship. Supervision (in early training) and consultation with colleagues provide
a critical place to examine one’s counter transference and the impact it has on
an offender’s treatment. Within a supervision context, it is important to deci-
pher whether a fear response is a result of manipulation or inappropriate
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behaviors on the offender’s part. If so, the focus of supervision should be on

re-establishing boundaries and respect for the therapeutic relationship.
However, if the clinician’s response of fear is related to a personal trigger or
the offense hits too close to home (i.e., treating a pedophile who abused a
7-year-old boy and the clinician is a mother), then the focus of supervision
should be on processing the difficulties in maintaining objectivity between
the professional demands and one’s personal experiences. In such cases, it is
critical to explore and process the supervisee’s emotional response to their
client, as it will not only impact the supervisee personally, but also impact the
effectiveness and success of treatment. While supervision provides a context
to explore counter transference as it relates to treatment, supervisors may
need to recommend individual therapy as a context where supervisees can
further explore the emotional impact of working with these forensic clients.
Exposure to deviant sexual content and inappropriate behavior can lead
to changes in sexual intimacy in the clinicians’ personal life. Clinicians work-
ing with this population have reported avoiding sexual contact altogether as
well as becoming distracted during sex and/or ending sexual contact prema-
turely within their own personal lives (Ellerby, 1997). This impact on sexual
intimacy is often not addressed or acknowledged by clinicians in the field.
However, supervisors should educate trainees on this potential influence on
their sexual intimacy in order to empower them to seek resources to manage
this sensitive topic (i.e., couples or family therapy).

COUNTERTRANSFERENCE

Females who work with offenders face unique challenges in regards to counter
transference, especially when clients have committed sexual abuse or violence.
Often, working with these populations increases the female clinician’s aware-
ness of the potential for victimization or trauma in her own life (Schauben &
Frazer, 1995). Though men may also be victimized, the statistics reveal that
this risk is substantially greater for women, as 1 in 5 will be raped sometime
during her life (Koss, 1993) and 25% of females are sexually abused (Rowan
& Foy, 1993). Furthermore, because a large percentage of females in general
experience victimization, it is not surprising that many clinicians have similar
 78 A. L. Ermshar and A. M. Meier

backgrounds. Schauben and Frazier (1995) found that 70% to 83% of female
clinicians working with victims of sexual abuse or violence reported a his-
tory of their own victimization (i.e., rape, attempted rape, incest/child sexual
abuse, sexual harassment, and/or other sexual assault). A staggering 37% of
those who had experienced one of these forms of victimization actually had
a history of two or more forms of victimization. Despite these statistics, over-
all, clinicians with a history of victimization were not more distressed by
their work with abuse victims than clinicians without this history (Schauben
& Frazier, 1995). However, it is important to educate supervisees that offend-
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ers can trigger intense personal feelings and traumatic memories, especially
if the supervisee has her own personal history of victimization (Mothersole,
2000).

VICARIOUS TRAUMATIZATION

Given the significant impact of this work on their psychological, social, and
sexual functioning, it is not surprising that clinicians who work with violent
and sexual offenders experience high levels of burnout (Farrenkopf, 1993;
Hackett, 2002) and are susceptible to vicarious traumatization (Moulden &
Firestone, 2007; VanDeusen & Way, 2006; Way, VanDeusen, & Cottrell, 2007).
However, it is not clear how women are specifically impacted by this work,
as research has not investigated gender specific differences. Though evidence
has found any risk for traumatization can be mitigated by supervision,
clinicians who work with offenders and have limited opportunities for
supervision have reported higher levels of distress and burnout than those
who have supervision readily available (Ellerby, 1998).
Though research has focused on clinicians’ work with victims of sexual
abuse, those who work with perpetrators are also at risk for vicarious trau-
matization. Vicarious traumatization has been described as “a process by
which therapists’ experience of themselves, others, and the world around
them is negatively affected as a direct result of an empathic connection with
clients’ traumatic material” (Kadambi & Truscott, 2003, p. 217). This process
can result in changes in world view, identity, issues surrounding safety and
trust, as well as intrusive visual images and painful affect (McCann &
Pearlman, 1990). Farrenkopf (1992) found that 25% of professionals who
worked with sexual offenders reported high levels of stress, exhaustion,
depression and burnout. Furthermore, in his research, 33% of these profes-
sionals experienced symptoms of vicarious traumatization, including hyper
vigilance, suspiciousness and fear for the safety of loved ones (Farrenkopf,
1992). Fitzgerald (2009) described her difficulty and eventual burnout from
working with sexual offenders: “I couldn’t get to sleep at night. Images
flashed—no, crashed—before me, of the things I had read or heard that
day: X touching the nine-year-old girl; Y masturbating in front of his two
 Forensic Psychology 79

boys … I began suspecting every man I knew. I wanted to know why they
helped out at Scouts or offered to babysit … They had skewed my world,
polluted me.” The issues Fitzgerald (2009) highlights are common and
contribute to burnout. However, acknowledging a possibility of negative
outcomes and providing adequate attention to these issues in supervision
can stave off the ramifications of exposure to such a challenging population.
Vicarious trauma can also occur and may even be more intense in the
supervisor, who hears about the trauma or offense secondhand and has no
working relationship with the client. As a supervisor, it may be more diffi-
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cult to think of either the victim and/or the offender as whole persons when
there is no working relationship with either. As such, it will be important for
supervisors within this context to seek their own consultation and support
for these difficulties.
Chassman and colleagues (2010) found that seeking supervision and/or
individual therapy helps clinicians more effectively manage their feelings
and prevent burnout. Furthermore, clinicians who experience sexual arousal
in working with sex offenders should work on managing and setting their
own boundaries. In order to minimize the chance of vicarious traumatization
and to manage potential sexual arousal, substantial thought should be given
by the clinician as to how much detail of their clients’ sexual and/or violent
acts they are willing and able to handle (Chassman et  al., 2010). Coping
techniques can be utilized to prevent vicarious traumatization and burnout,
such as focusing on the clients’ narrative rather than visualizing the behav-
iors being described (Chassman et al., 2010). Though clinicians who work
with violent and sexual offenders have an increased susceptibility to burnout
and traumatization, it is important to note that the majority of clinicians who
work in this area are coping relatively well with no signs of any drastic
changes in emotional or psychological functioning (Ellerby, 1998; Ennis &
Horne, 2003).

CONTINUING SUPERVISION

Although the concept of supervision is often regarded as solely for those in

training or early in their career, it should be viewed as a career-long tool to
be utilized by all. Once out of training and post-licensure, supervision is
often coined “consultation” or “peer supervision.” Colleagues have been
cited as the most frequently used method of coping with the nature of foren-
sic work ( Jackson et al., 1997). As illustrated throughout the article, the ben-
efits of continued consultation with peers even post-licensure include a)
greater objectivity for clients, b) increased insight into clinical blind spots or
personal triggers, c) support for difficult cases, and d) mitigation of burnout.
When working with violent and/or sexual offenders, consultation with peers
is even more critical than in other clinical settings, since the topics discussed
 80 A. L. Ermshar and A. M. Meier

in treatment and the offenders themselves often take a much larger toll on
clinicians.

CONCLUSION

Preparing new clinicians for the emotional and psychological demands of

forensic work with violent or sexual offenders is imperative. As illustrated
throughout the article, supervision is crucial to adequate adjustment to this
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field, especially for female trainees and the unique challenges they encoun-
ter. Stereotypical gender scripts, in which females are expected to empathize
with victims, result in stigmatization of those working with offenders because
it is seen as evidence for supporting or excusing their behaviors. Considering
these examples, the attitude and atmosphere towards women in forensic
psychology serves as a self-fulfilling prophecy setting women up for increased
difficulties in the field, as they strive to prove that they indeed can handle it
without seeking support or help, hastening their burnout levels. Preparing
female trainees for counter transferential issues, de-feminization, and the
potential for vicarious traumatization will serve to help female clinicians
continue to thrive in the field of forensic evaluation and treatment; thereby
benefitting the offender’s treatment and the field in general.

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